Of all Barry Landau's anecdotes about his friendships with presidential dogs and trust us, he has lots of 'em, perhaps the best is the one about the time the Clinton White House called to postpone his playdate with Buddy.

George W. Bush exited the White House quietly. He made a final morning visit to the Oval Office, left the traditional presidential note for successor Barack Obama and met with dozens of current and former staff members at Andrews Air Force Base for his flight home all without public comment.

Stunned by the loss of 500,000 jobs, congressional Democrats and the White House reached for agreement Friday on about $15 billion in bailout loans for the beleaguered auto industry. President George W. Bush warned that at least one of the Big Three carmakers might not survive the current economic crisis.

Late-night talk show ribbing aside, the multigenerational Obamas could help make extended families visible again. The family says they expect Michelle Obama's mother, Marian Robinson, to leave her native Chicago early next year and move to Washington to help care for their two young daughters a job she held throughout the presidential campaign.